Many people find it very difficult to accept the life of retirement from work, but this is the reality of life. I have never met an exceptionally hardworking person who had to be laid off simply because of his age.
We didn’t know each other before we came into this world, but once we arrived, we started to get to know each other, and there comes a time when separation becomes a burden. It’s not that the reason for this separation is always the death of a person. Sometimes you will never see a person again in your life. This is also a kind of separation. When a person enters the workplace from a student status, the world is completely new to him, but gradually that world becomes very dear to him. The same thing happened to me. At first, I couldn’t accept this world, but then I gradually realized that this is also a part of life, a place where we must do our work and through this work, we will make new friends, discover new partner, and live with them for a while. I will share with you one such breakup story today. The story started two years ago. Although I was young, I saw the gentleman in his old age, that is, he had already passed the age of sixty. The gentleman used to work in a company, but he was laid off from there due to his age, and he somehow came to join our company. The gentleman was a Muslim, but I never saw any fanaticism or extremism in him. He was a gentleman of a liberal nature. The gentleman loved to eat so much that he had to take bed rest repeatedly. We would tell him many times but he would not listen. He would say that he wanted to eat well for a few days and then die. We would laugh at his words.
Let me give you a brief account of the gentleman’s past life. He was once a businessman, a cloth merchant, and traveled all over India. We used to hear from him how he had travelled to different parts of India in his youth and gained various experiences. He would tell us about how he had once fallen into the hands of some militants and how he had come back alive thanks to his intelligence. We would also listen to all these stories with great interest. The gentleman had two daughters, both of whom he married off on time, so he didn’t have much pressure in the end and lived his life without any pressure. But I noticed one thing about the gentleman that despite his age, he was very personable at work and he didn’t do show-off work. He strictly performed his duties. That’s why he was an ideal for all of us. We could easily guess that someone who could be so active in old age must have been so active and focused on work when he was young, so we would discuss it among ourselves and we would always be positive about him.
This person, who had a positive mindset in terms of physicality, character, and mind, was the most steadfast person, and there was no room for anyone to say anything negative about him. But we know that when trees are cut in the forest, the biggest tree is cut first because it is the most needed, so in this case, it was a tie, that is, within a few days we came to know that the company was going to lay off six people, including that person’s name. If my name was on that list, I wouldn’t have felt so bad, but seeing that person’s name made me feel very bad. That’s because I’m young and I think I can get a job in many places, but that person can’t get a job anywhere else because he’s already reached the threshold of old age. Later, I realized that he was very mentally broken after hearing this news, meaning that he understood that it was time for him to retire and he would not find work anywhere else. And after a few days, he was laid off from the company and all his debts were paid to him, although the amount was very small. It was as if the oldest tree in the forest had been cut down silently, and no one had even noticed.
I am a person who is forgotten by everyone but I cannot forget anyone. Every person I spend time with is precious to me, so I could not forget this person either. I called him yesterday. Talking to him, I realized that he did not expect the company to lay him off so soon. Not only did the company lay him off, but a big chapter in his life came to an end with this layoff, meaning he returned to full retirement from his working life. Although I have not seen him face to face, due to our long-standing acquaintance, I understand that his mental and physical condition has deteriorated in recent days and he is very broken. I was trying my best to get the gentleman a job but he said no, I don’t want to go back to work. I’m completely mentally broken, so I will retire this time. A horse never appears to be lying down , but when it lies down, it means that its life is coming to an end. I closed my eyes, realizing this, and a wind of sadness swept through my mind. He said that I might never see you face to face again because I am physically broken. I also knew that since the laid off , he had developed a special problem with his legs, due to which he could not even walk properly. I also realized that I might never see this person again, with whom I had spent so many days of my life. It was very painful to think about it. Still, I tried to console him, saying why we might not see each other again? Of course, we would meet at your house. I would definitely go if I had time, but I also know that in this busy life, that might never be possible. It’s really sad if I can’t make time for someone I used to see every day even one day a year. In fact, those of us who enter the work world may not want to have personal relationships outside of work, so maybe we don’t have time for each other when he or she leaves the workplace. But still I will try to be in touch with him. Because he is the person, from whom I learnt a lot of things which includes mainly how to survive the life and win. The name of colleague was Najibul Molla. Good Bye Najibul Da. Please take care of yourself.
